Tube Preamps.....

Hi, reading the string with interest. I had a CJ 12AL (12au7 tubes) pre for several years which was a warm/lush preamp for sure. A beautiful sounding piece. I replaced it with a Odyssey Candela preamp to mate with my Odyssey Stratos. It leans to warm aide of neutral and responds greatly to nos tuberolling. I default back to bugle boys. I assume it falls well within your $3K limit but a call to Klaus could answer any questions that you may have.
Take care.

Linear Tube Audio MZ2-S

+1 LTA MZ2.  I have one in my 3rd system.  I've had it in systems #1 and #2, and it's incredible for the money.  It's just barely beaten by an $8K integrated and an $18K pre-amp, and it easily beat an $8K pre-amp I demo'd (and didn't buy because of the MZ2).

@parsons,

That is high praise and I completely agree. The MZ2 can compete with preamps at 10x the cost. I am now very curious about the new Micro ZOTL Preamp that was just shown at Axpona for the first time. Unlike the MZ2 which is a Swiss Army knife product, the new pre is a dedicated preamp and Mark says it’s better than the MZ2.

I would concur with recomondarions on preamps based with 6SN7 tubes. There is something special about this tube type, and there is (relatively speaking) a great selection of old tubes that you can roll with terrific sonic changes. Something SS will never do.

The 6SN7 is more linear tube than its miniature counterpart the 12AU7 (although the 6CG7 and 12BH7 are nearly the same tube in the taller miniature format) and has less microphonics than the 6DJ8 and its brethren, which includes the 6H30. It is one of the best tubes you can use in a line stage.